In order to electrically interface two circuit boards or similar device substrates, an electrical connector is commonly used. Such a connector typically includes an insulative body and electrically conductive routing extending through the body from one surface to the opposite surface of the connector. The terminal pads, leads or similar conductive attachments of a first circuit board are attached to one surface of the connector and the conductive attachments of a second circuit board are attached to the opposite surface of the connector. The connector can be useful, for example, when closely spaced leads on one circuit must be interfaced with lower density leads on another circuit or device.
For some applications, such as in a disk drive apparatus, it is often desirable to interface a flexible circuit board to a more rigid printed circuit board. In this situation, the flexible circuit board is typically mounted onto the connector such that the ends of contact pins extend from the connector project through apertures in the flexible circuit. The electrical connections are then made by soldering whereby each contact pin is individually soldered to a corresponding contact pad on the flexible circuit. In-line connectors can include any number of contact pins, such as 24 or more contact pins. The soldering step to connect the flexible circuit board to the connector is therefore a labor-intensive process which significantly adds to the cost of the assembly.
It would be advantageous to provide an in-line connector wherein the electrical connection between a circuit, such as a flexible circuit, and a connector can be easily fabricated in high volumes while reducing the labor required to produce the assembly.